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Community Safety & Emergencies

Domestic violence and abuse affects thousands of people from all different backgrounds. It does not matter whether you are young or old, if you are religious or not, whether you are male or female, if you are from a different country or a different culture, whether you are a traveller, whether you are employed or unemployed and it does not matter about your sexuality.

If you need help and guidance please telephone the Domestic Violence Outreach and IDVA service: 01246 593063.

If you cannot afford to buy a home outright you may be able to get some financial help through a shared ownership scheme or Help to Buy Equity Loan Scheme. For more information on any of these schemes contact your local Help to Buy agent, Help to Buy Midlands, through the Help to Buy website at www.orbit.org.uk, or telephone 03458 50 20 50 select option 2, or via email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Renting a home from a private landlord or agent is a good housing solution and very flexible. Often this is the first accommodation people live in once they leave home.

The private rented market is very varied and the standard of accommodation and management can also differ greatly. We can give you guidance on the legal standards for private rented housing, advice on how to go about letting or renting a property and what to do if you have problems. We have a range of powers that can be used to ensure properties are safe and well managed and tenants are free from harassment and nuisance.

We can offer advice and guidance for people who are or are thinking about becoming private tenants, download the Private Renting for Tenants PDF for further guidance.

Harassment and Illegal Eviction

We can assist people who are threatened with harassment and eviction and can offer advice on illegal eviction and private tenancies.

Harassment and illegal eviction of tenants is a criminal offence, prosecuted by local authorities and the only way a tenant can be made to leave their property is via a court order.

A person found guilty of harassment or illegal eviction faces a maximum fine of 5,000 pounds or up to 6 months in prison. They will also have a criminal record.

Tenants can also take civil action and may win thousands of pounds in compensation.

If you are suffering harassment or illegal eviction, you should contact:

Caravan sites may be residential, holiday or touring sites and if you use land as a caravan site you will almost always need to get planning permission and a site licence from us.

Gypsies and Travellers

There is one transit site located within the District at Pleasley. The site is licensed by us but is privately owned.

When dealing with gypsy and traveller issues we follow the Inter Agency Guidance (426kb) to ensure that all services are delivered fairly to gypsies and travellers in compliance with the law, government guidance and local authorities equalities policies.

Dealing with illegal encampments

We are only able to evict Gypsies/Travellers off Council owned land. If the Gypsies/Travellers are causing problems they will be moved on as soon as is possible and reasonable. It normally takes approximately three weeks to gather the relevant information and obtain a court hearing date. The Court can refuse to grant us an order to move the Gypsies/Travellers on if it believes there is an unavoidable reason for the Gypsies/Travellers to stay on the site or if the Court believes that we have failed to make adequate enquiries regarding the general health and welfare of the Gypsies/Travellers. Please report any illegal encampments to us immediately.

Dealing with illegal encampments on other land

If the encampment is on land not owned by us, then the landowner, if possible, should talk to the travellers to try and gauge how long they will be there. The landowner can also take proceedings in the County Court under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 to obtain a Court Order for their eviction. There must be a minimum of two clear days between service of documents and the Court hearing.

Any decision by the landowner to allow the travellers to stay on site must be undertaken with the correct planning permissions and licensing. Any breach of these permissions will result in us taking action against the landowner.

If you are homeless now, or are threatened with being made homeless we can provide help and assistance. This can be done in person, by telephoning 01246 242424 or by emailing the Housing Needs Officers at your local Contact Centre.

You will be interviewed by an experienced officer who will conduct an initial assessment of your housing needs. This officer will be your point of contact throughout your application and will work with you and other agencies to try and resolve your housing situation. The Homelessness Application document here will give you more information on the homelessness process and provide details of the necessary documents you will need to bring with you to an interview.

The Housing Needs team can also help people who are sleeping rough during the freezing weather.

Under normal circumstances the council has to assess if a person is deemed to be homeless under set criteria – but this is suspended when temperatures fall below zero for three consecutive nights and the council can offer emergency shelter, for help telephone 01246 242424 or contact the Out of Hours Service if the Council is closed.

For more information on sleeping rough please visit the Streetlink website.

Out Of Hours Service

Call Derbyshire is the "Out of Hours" service for homeless households in Derbyshire, if you require assistance when the Council is closed you can contact this team on:

An asylum seeker is someone who comes to the UK, often fleeing persecution, torture or war and applies for refugee status. Until refugee status is granted, such a person remains an asylum seeker. Asylum seekers often encounter difficulty in obtaining accommodation.

Bolsover District Council has no duty to provide accommodation for asylum seekers.